National Association of Home Builders Discusses Economics and Housing Policy

Top Ten Metro Areas – Owner-Occupied Housing Units

In a recent study, NAHB examines eight key housing statistics from the 2012 American Community Survey (ACS). The study allows readers to compare the statistics for all metropolitan (metro) areas in the United States. A metro area is an aggregation of counties that share a local labor and housing market based on commuting patterns. This post lists the ten metro areas with the highest count of owner-occupied housing units; the first statistic discussed in the study.

As one might expect the count of owner-occupied housing units is directly related to population and the homeownership rate. Occupied units can either be rented or owned. Therefore, a high homeownership rate implies more owner-occupied units relative to rental units.

The metropolitan area with the most owner-occupied units is the Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, IL (Chicago) metro division with just over 1.8 million units. The Chicago metro division is the third most populous at just under 8 million. The Chicago metro division has a homeownership rate of 63.3% which is slightly below the national average of 64.7%.

The New York-White Plains-Wayne (New York) metro division ranks second with just under 1.7 million units. The New York metro division is the most populous metro area. The population of the New York metro division is nearly 12 million. The homeownership rate, however, for the New York metro division is well below the national average at 38.8%.

The Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale (Los Angeles) metro division ranks third with just under 1.5 million units. The Los Angeles metro division is also more populous than the Chicago metro division but with a lower homeownership rate. The homeownership rate for the Los Angeles metro division is 45.8%.

The remaining metro areas on the list have both large populations and homeownership rates that approach the national average of 64.7%. The Philadelphia metro division and Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington metro area are the only two metro areas on the list with homeownership rates above the national average.